Walking in His Ways

By Greg Hinnant

In Walking in His Ways, Greg Hinnant uses a plethora of biblical examples to set forth the essential principles for genuine Christian discipleship in clear, easy-to-understand language. He illuminates 24 distinct "ways"—spiritual life-disciplines—that every Christian “disciple,” or deeply serious, irrevocably committed, self-disciplined, student-follower of Jesus, should know and live in daily. These Christlike ways guide you through the successive stages of Christian growth from spiritual infancy to maturity. Whatever your current experience, this book will speak to you, informing or reminding, encouraging or correcting, to inspire you to continue walking in his ways until you finish the course Jesus has set before you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gatekeeper Press
• Release date: May 20, 2024
• ISBN: 9781662949975

Book preview

Chapter One

The Way of

Devotion

When thou saidst, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

—PSALM 27:8

To glorify God, we must serve Him acceptably. To serve God acceptably, we must know Him deeply. To know God deeply, we must seek Him diligently. To seek God diligently, we must learn the lifestyle of devotion.

Let us, then, go to the top of the mount . . .

GO TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNT

And Moses went up into the mount . . .

—EXODUS 24:15

Chiefly, the Christian life is about knowing God in an ever-increasing measure. It is the beginning of eternal life in time. Jesus revealed this when He said, And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent (John 17:3). Inflamed with loving gratitude, the apostle Paul gave up everything to know the Lord who saved him: Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss . . . that I may know him . . . (Phil. 3:8, 10). Sadly, many born-again ones do not share Paul’s passion. For while all true Christians are equally related to God, all are not equally knowledgeable of Him.

We know the Lord only as much as we seek Him. And the Bible reveals repeatedly that seeking God is an if matter:

If thou seek him, he will be found by thee.

—1 CHRONICLES 28:9, EMPHASIS ADDED

If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hidden treasures; then shalt thou . . . find the knowledge of God.

—PROVERBS 2:4–5, EMPHASIS ADDED

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when [if] ye shall search for me with all your heart.

—JEREMIAH 29:13, EMPHASIS ADDED

Steadfast seekers eventually acquire a full and deep understanding of their God, while the uninterested remain unacquainted with and unsure of Him. Or, to put it simply, the more we seek God, the more we know Him. We see this portrayed in the Israelites’ experiences with God at Mount Sinai.

All the Israelites who came out of Egypt were equally related to Jehovah, but not all knew Him in the same degree. Exodus 24 reveals that among the company of the redeemed there existed three distinct levels of intimacy with God. The congregation, the seventy elders and Moses each represent a different depth of the knowledge of God.

THE CONGREGATION

Encamped on the plain at the base of Mount Sinai, the people of Israel experienced God at a distance. (See Exodus 24:3–8.) When earlier He had appeared on the Mount and, amid an awesome display of light, smoke and blaring trumpet blasts, delivered His Ten Commandments, the people fled in mortal terror. Rather than draw near to their Savior, they drew back and stood afar off: "And God spoke all these words . . . And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings . . . and when the people saw it, they moved, and stood afar off" (Exodus 20:1, 18, emphasis added).

And afar off they remained. Never did they fellowship with the Lord. Never did they speak with Him face to face. Never did they sit in hushed wonder and concentrate on His unique beauty. Never did they spend long hours bathing in His cleansing, transformative presence. They saw the fire and the cloud brooding atop Sinai and wondered at the glory that made Moses’ face shine, but they never drew near to know the source of these miracles for themselves. Always, they heard from God indirectly, never personally. After declaring His Decalogue, God never again spoke to the people; He spoke to Moses and Moses spoke to the people. And it was their desire that it remain that way: And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us . . . (v. 19).

Therefore, the congregation’s knowledge of the Holy One was entirely secondhand. It was impersonal, distant, limited, shallow. Though redeemed from Egypt, they remained largely ignorant of the One who had redeemed them.

THE SEVENTY ELDERS

The seventy elders of Israel went farther in the quest to know God. Unlike the people, they at least began to seek their Savior, spending some time—albeit a little—in close, personal fellowship with Him. In the company of Moses, Aaron, his sons and Joshua, Israel’s elders climbed the lower slopes of Sinai, where they held a communion supper with God on the side of the mount. (See Exodus 24:9–11.) There they beheld the same glory Moses beheld at the burning bush. The inspired record reads, "Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and they saw the God of Israel . . . they saw God, and did eat and drink" (Exod. 24:9–11, emphasis added). But this communion, though personal, was brief. Apparently, it lasted only a few hours. The Lord then returned to the top of Sinai and called Moses to come up to Him (24:12–13), leaving the elders on the sides of mount (24:14).

These seventy, then, knew God more deeply than the people. The reason is simple: They sought Him more. Rather than drawing back, they drew near. Rather than looking away, they looked on, their eyes beholding the indescribable beauty of the Lord. Rather than fleeing from the cloud, they spent time basking in the presence of the King of glory and communing with Him over a meal. Their knowledge of the Holy One, therefore, was direct. It was firsthand, clear, personal. But even so, it was limited. The seventy elders were not nearly as intimate with God as Moses.

MOSES

Of all the Israelites, only Moses spent an extended period of time alone with God. (See Exodus 24:12–18.) While the people encamped in the plain and the elders abode on the sides of the mount, Moses made the long, arduous climb to the top of the mount alone: And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and got up into the mount (24:18). (Joshua also went to the top of the mount, but only to aide Moses, not to commune face to face with God; compare Exodus 24:13–14 and 32:15–17.)

Moses’ spiritual communion was the deepest, and rarest, kind—forty consecutive days and nights, or 960 straight hours in fellowship with the eternal Spirit! (See Exodus 24:18.) Unlike the people’s communion, which was nil, or the elders’, which was brief, Moses’ time in God’s presence was sustained. Day after day, night after night, week after week, fortnight after fortnight, he soaked in the miraculously creative atmosphere of the Shekinah. At the end of his visit he was a thoroughly remarkable man—a man permeated with God.

Hence, the fruit of his fellowship was remarkable. Out of Moses’ prolonged fellowship came Israel’s entire knowledge of her God. It was on the mount that Moses received the Ten Commandments, God’s will for mankind. It was on the mount that he received the judgments, God’s regulations for Israel’s social order. It was on the mount that he received the ordinances, God’s instructions for His chosen way of worship. And it was on the mount that he received the pattern for the Tabernacle—the pattern shown to thee in the mount (Heb. 8:5)—which blessed the sons of Abraham with grand visions of their coming Savior, His church and heaven.

These lofty revelations were the rewards of Moses’ lofty fellowship. While the people were content to hear God’s voice afar off, and the elders rested in their limited experience with Him, Moses was blessed with an abiding spiritual hunger that kept him ever climbing, ever seeking, ever inquiring, ever meditating, and, consequently, ever finding more of God. This led him into a knowledge of God much deeper than that possessed by his peers. Moses’ knowledge of the Most High was not only firsthand, it was intimate, full, rich and overflowing; and all Israel drank from his fount. In his extraordinary sojourn atop Sinai, we see a spiritual lesson too clear to miss: God reveals Himself most to those who seek Him most.

God led the Israelites through these memorable experiences in part to provide us with vital life illustrations (see 1 Cor. 10:11). We will find that it is the same with us today as it was with the Jews of Moses’ generation. All born-again Christians are equally related to God through faith in Christ, but not all enjoy the same degree of fellowship with Him or possess the same knowledge of the Lord. There are in the churches today three distinct types of believers corresponding to the three kinds of Israelites seen at Sinai—plain, mount, and summit Christians.

PLAIN CHRISTIANS

Some Christians live their entire lifetime at the base of the mount. After being saved in an exalted encounter with Jesus and experiencing a brief period of spiritual zeal, they draw back from their first love for their Savior. Consequently, they follow Him, but only from a distance. They see Him, but only dimly. They are Spirit-born, but not Spirit-filled. They know the Lord, but their knowledge is shallow. Their knowledge of the Word is little more than the Ten Commandments. These hear God’s voice, but always from afar—through their pastors’ weekly messages, over Christian television or radio, in Christian publications, in Bible study groups or in the lyrics of gospel music.

Never have they experienced the Spirit opening the Word to them in private Bible meditation. Never have they discerned the still, small voice speaking to them through dreams, prophecies or counsel. The reason? Simply, that they have never sought the Lord in a personal way. Their contact with Him is strictly public, never private. It is confined to the meetings and activities of the church. Theirs is a knowledge of God that is entirely secondhand, and they are quite content for it to remain that way. These plain Christians are happy enough to be saved but quietly determined to keep the Savior at arm’s length. Seeking God, they reason, is for monks, fanatics and foolish new converts, not sane churchgoers.

It is a dry, dull existence that non-seekers choose for themselves. Never do they hunger for more of God, hence, they never taste and see that the Lord is good. Never do they thirst for living water, hence, they never drink in spiritual refreshment. Never do they yearn to go up to new heights of spirituality, faith and power; so, they never rise above their carnal peers. Because they profess to be Christians, these uninspired residents of the church plain are reported to have spiritual life but are, in fact, spiritually dead. And their spiritual deadness is the fitting reward of their spiritual indolence.

MOUNT CHRISTIANS

Thankfully, many Christians at least make a start at seeking God. As Israel’s seventy elders did, they climb part of the way up the mount of holy fellowship. But, sadly, too many of them turn aside and settle for life on the sides of the mount. They talk and feel after the summit-life for a season, only to fall back gradually into a lifestyle distinctly less than the highest. Thus, they abide in the spiritual middle, not on the summit or in the plain but on the sides of the mount; not hot or cold, but spiritually lukewarm.

Unlike plain Christians, these mount Christians have known personal fellowship with the Lord, but only on a limited basis. They have sat at His spiritual table during exalted times of fellowship, nourishing their hearts with the bread of His Word and sipping refreshing truths from His cup of biblical insights, but only occasionally, not daily. They have visited His secret place, making known to Him their hearts’ desires in times of crises, but have never formed the habit of dwelling there. (See Psalm 91:1.) Their fellowship has been sporadic and brief, not sustained. Never have they kept a daily devotional over a long season. Why have these, unlike Moses, failed to come up unto God into the mount and be there? (See Exodus 24:12.)

Several hindrances keep them back. Though they have moments of genuine desire, mount Christians lack the self-discipline to daily climb and abide in the high places of spiritual blessing. A plethora of snares bind them to the low places. The cares of this world demand, and get, their thoughts. Good but unimportant interests enter and consume their free time and energy. The lust for material gain first rivals, then usurps their desire to become rich in God. Unspiritual people steal their affections and attention. They become entangled in purely worldly pursuits.

Or, as they begin forming a Word-centered lifestyle, tribulation or persecution arises; so, offended, they turn back to avoid further trials, as many did in Jesus’ day: From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him (John 6:66). These often justify their spiritual procrastination, concluding that there is only so much time in the day and God, gracious as He is, will surely be content with His devotional half-hour, or quarter-hour or minute. So they stop short of the top of the mount.

SUMMIT CHRISTIANS

There are yet Christians who, bearing a strong spiritual semblance to Moses, go on to the top of the mount. Refusing to give their hearts to less than the Highest, they set their affections on God: Because he hath set his love upon me . . . (Ps. 91:14). Instead of limiting their devotional life, they follow on to know the Lord (Hos. 6:3), beyond the multitudes on the plain, beyond other seekers that settle on the sides of the mount, all the way to the summit of the knowledge of God.

These spiritual mountain climbers seek the King and build up His kingdom in their souls first every day: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness . . . " (Matt. 6:33, emphasis added). They have heard the Lord’s call to seek Him early: "I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me (Prov. 8:17, emphasis added). And they have responded in love to Him, O God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee . . . " (Ps. 63:1, emphasis added). By study and experience, they have discovered the threefold meaning of the word early:

• In the early hours of the day

• Before other things

• Diligently

So they seek the Lord diligently, with businesslike regularity and steadfastness. So they seek Him before other things, jealously guarding their intimacy with Him by heeding His words before any others and talking to Him before anyone else. So they seek Him in the early hours of the day, when all is quiet and Jesus draws near the temple courts of their souls to teach. Morning by morning, they sit quietly and submissively at His feet, seeking daily bread from His Word. (See Matthew 6:11; Luke 10:38–42.) Even if they should rise late, they insist on at least a brief morning interview with the Lord of the day.

There, in His presence, they make decisions and order changes according to His will, as David did long ago: Thy servant did meditate in thy statutes . . . I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies (Ps. 119:23, 59). They tell Him all their problems, ask His wisdom and assistance, and thank Him in advance for His unfailing help. (See Philippians 4:6–7.) In sharp contrast to Christians of the plain, summit Christians steadily keep worldly anxieties at a distance and the Lord of peace close by; hence, He works steadily in their behalf, adding all the things they need little by little: . . . and all these things shall be added unto you (Matt. 6:33).

As time passes, these conscientious seekers know God ever more deeply. Because of their special love for Him, God gives them special understanding of Himself, His Word, and His plan for their generation, as Jesus promised: He it is that loveth me . . . and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him (John 14:21). As a result, they increase steadily in biblical knowledge, personal understanding and spiritual discernment and, as sons of Issachar, soon know their times and what God’s people should do. As their vision grows ever sharper, they discern truth from error, true servants from impostors and the Spirit’s ways from the tempter’s paths. As Moses did, summit Christians speak to Omnipotence face to face and are noticeably changed by the transformative power of the presence. God will call these for special service. He will lead them in the way He chooses. They shall bear much fruit, bring much glory, reap many rewards and execute the divine plan for our generation.

Friend, you may have a relationship to Jesus Christ, bought and paid for on the cross, but that does not guarantee you will know the Lord. To know Him, you must seek Him. To know Him deeply, you must seek Him diligently. In Exodus 24, God sets your options before you. Which kind of a seeker will you be—plain, mount or summit?

Hear what the Spirit is saying, and make the right choice. Don’t stop short in your quest to know God—deeply, fully, brilliantly, overflowingly. Don’t be content to follow Jesus at a distance; life on the plain is not God’s chosen way for His people. Nor is life on the sides of the mount; limited seekers abide partially satisfied. Life more abundant is found only at the top of the mount. So get going! Begin climbing towards those glorious heights today, this very hour! Go ever onward and upward until you reach the apex of the Christian way. And when you arrive at that lofty spiritual camp, be wise. Never again descend from that standard of fellowship with Jesus. Live on the mount forever. That is, remain in the way of devotion the rest of your days. Or, as the Lord put it in His original charge to Moses, be there! "And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there . . . " (Exod. 24:12, emphasis added).

To do that, you will have to learn the way of self-discipline.

Chapter Two

The Way of

Self-Discipline

Give diligence to make your calling and election sure . . .

—2 PETER 1:10

Discipline is an essential part of discipleship. A disciple is not only a learner, but also a disciplined one—one who is orderly, regular, diligent. An undisciplined learner God will not—He cannot—use. Upon Christ’s disciplined ones His Spirit will invariably fall, and through them He will remarkably work. The only lasting discipline is self-discipline, and time management is one of the most practical forms of self-discipline.

We must learn to take and make time for God . . .

TAKING AND MAKING TIME FOR GOD

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

—PSALM 90:12

Time is a very precious and perishable commodity. With mercy toward none and impatience toward all, it steadily slips away, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day. Even while you take the time to consider this subject, your life, like a mist, is gradually vanishing from the earthly scene: For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away (James 4:14). It was this that was before the psalmist when he prayed, So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom (Ps. 90:12).

To number our days is to highly value and wisely use the time God has allotted us. It is time management pursued and perfected. Our mastery of time is directly related to our ability to glorify God.

If we want our lives to count for God, we must get to know Him. In His high priestly prayer, Jesus voiced this, His heart’s desire, "[Oh!] that they might know thee, the only true God" (John 17:3, emphasis added). To know God, we must seek Him: "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near" (Isa. 55:6, emphasis added). To seek Him, we must spend time with Him. We see this clearly in the apostles’ calling.

Before the twelve preached and ministered healing and deliverance in Jesus’ name, and before they called others to come unto Him, they had to spend time with their divine Master. Extended private fellowship with Jesus—to be with him—was the first and most vital phase of their calling. Note Mark’s words: "And he |appointed| twelve, that they should be with him . . . " (Mark 3:14, emphasis added).

Truly, there would have been no going forth to work the works of Jesus if the apostles had refused to spend time with Him. Though Jesus called them that he might send them forth to preach, and to have authority to heal sicknesses, and to cast out demons (3:14–15), they neither received power nor began preaching on the day Jesus appointed them. In fact, instead of going out, they went in. That is, they went into an house (3:19), where they began discharging their sacred duty to spend quality time with Jesus—pondering His Word, asking Him questions, soaking in His Spirit, observing His utter dependence on His Father, learning His ways, wondering at His power and marveling at His compassion.

The apostles’ active public ministry—the second and more visible phase of their calling—did not begin until sometime later. Again, note Mark’s words: And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two, and gave them |authority| over unclean spirits . . . (Mark 6:7; See also verses 8–13). So we see that the apostles first formed the habit of spending time with Jesus (a habit they continued thereafter); then, as that time in His presence began transforming them, they began to go forth as His agents, living members of His body, true expressions of His very purpose, message, grace and power. And He was glorified.

We are called to follow the apostles’ example. To do so, we also must learn to be with him (Mark 3:14). This, our sacred duty, demands our time. Hence, we must take, and at times make, time for Him. And we must do it now. Life is extremely short and Jesus’ return is very near; there is simply no time to waste. That is, if we seriously hope to glorify God.

In his insightful book, The Root of the Righteous, A.W. Tozer writes:

Probably the most widespread and persistent problem to be found among Christians is the problem of retarded spiritual progress. Why, after years of Christian profession, do so many persons find themselves no farther along than when they first believed?

Tozer concludes that the probable cause of retarded spiritual progress is failure to give time to the cultivation of the knowledge of God. Then he adds:

Progress in the Christian life is exactly equal to the growing knowledge we gain of the Triune God in personal experience. And such experience requires a whole life devoted to it and plenty of time spent at the holy task of cultivating God. God can be known satisfactorily only as we devote time to Him . . . We may as well accept it: there is no short cut to sanctity . . . A thousand distractions would woo us away from thoughts of God, but if we are wise we will sternly put them from us and make room for the King and take time to entertain Him. Some things may be neglected with but little loss to the spiritual life, but to neglect communion with God is to hurt ourselves where we cannot afford it.

Tozer’s observation is a word in season. In this instant age, we tend to look for shorter, easier ways of doing everything. But there is no way to obtain instant spiritual reality. Christian maturity is available only on a pay-as-you-go basis: if we don’t pay the price, we don’t go on to know God. We cannot press a key, or click on a computer button and have God suddenly create in us a wonderful, well-rounded knowledge of Himself. Abraham could not. It took years of seeking, trusting, waiting and obeying before he fully knew the God who called him. And it was the same with Joseph, Moses and David. Why, even Jesus did not mature in a moment.

Over a thirty-year period, Jesus spent many long hours in private communion with His heavenly Father. Then He went forth full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Then He outwitted the tempter time and again and accepted rejection with amazing grace. Then He heard the voice from above, when others only heard thunder. Then He spoke truths that humbled the proud and encouraged the oppressed. Then He walked calmly on stormy waters. Then He perceived His Father’s hand in every circumstance and quietly suffered the cruelest injustice rather than fail to do His Father’s will.

All this glory sprang from one spiritual well—the time Jesus spent alone with His heavenly Father. Jesus was driven by a passion for His Father’s presence. To satisfy it, He mastered the art of time management. This demanded rigorous self-discipline. Morning